Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
November 18, 2016

VIJAYAWADA, India – West Indies Women will turn their attention to a friendlier format when they take on India Women in the first of three Twenty20 Internationals starting early Friday morning.

The tour has been a bleak one so far for the visitors, having suffered a 3-0 whitewash in the preceding One-Day International series but they will be banking on their strength in the game’s shortest format, in order to make amends.

West Indies Women are hoping for a return to their winning ways.

Head coach Vasbert Drakes said his charges understood the importance of the series especially coming on the heels of their drubbing in the ODIs.

“We’re up for the challenge. We know we are behind the eight-ball and the best possible way to prove to us and to prove to everyone that we are hungry and we want to get better, is to get back on the park and play the cricket that we want to be playing and that starts tomorrow,” Drakes said.

West Indies Women are the reigning T20 World Cup champions after defeating Australia Women in the final of that tournament in India last April.

And with the likes of power-hitters like Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor, the Caribbean girls will be expected to put on a show, much better than the one in the ODI series.

Drakes acknowledged the expectation which surrounded the side in the format.

“We know we have created a situation where people are expecting us to do well and we would have won the last international T20 competition which was the World Cup so the expectation is there,” the former West Indies cricketer pointed out.

“And certainly as a group we believe we have what it takes to continue to get better in terms of performing consistently.”

West Indies Women went down by 15 runs in the last ODI on Wednesday so have had precious little time to regroup from the series loss.

However, Drakes said there was a confidence in the camp that positive results could be had.

“We would have done our preparation, we would have tried to tick all the necessary boxes that would allow us to win the game . . . we are really looking forward to the competition,” he said.